


talking like a headstrong mama

by boba_tea_at_three



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, but she was friends with kushina here so, hana watches them like a good older sister™, it happened, kiba and naruto are now besties, naruto has no idea what just happened, tsume adopts naruto, tsume can't cook, weird i know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24627340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boba_tea_at_three/pseuds/boba_tea_at_three
Summary: A dog adopts a fox.And no, it’s probably not the dog that you’re thinking of.Tsume pauses. “Actually - you know what, brat?” she asks, because - because she remembers Kushina and Minato. Remembers Kushina cooing over Kiba as a harried Minato grilled her on how to take care of a baby. Remembers exactly what they gave to Konoha, and how they saved it.Remembers that they loved their kid. That they wanted him to be happy.“What were you going to order?” Tsume asks, kneeling down by Naruto as she silently vows to have atalkwith the owner of Yakiniku Q.
Relationships: Inuzuka Hana & Inuzuka Kiba & Inuzuka Tsume, Inuzuka Kiba & Inuzuka Tsume, Inuzuka Kiba & Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Tsume & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 9
Kudos: 136





	talking like a headstrong mama

**Author's Note:**

> title is from hypnotic by vanic and zella day
> 
> i don't know why i made this and i'm sorry

Tsume’s tired, dammit. Kiba’s learned how to run and talk, and talk, and talk, and gods, the kid just doesn’t. Shut. Up.

He’s excited to go to the Academy next year, he’s excited to have a nin-dog once he joins, he’s excited to learn how to become a _super cool awesome ninja, kaa-san!_ , and he just talks and talks and talks.

 _Hana was so much calmer_ , she muses, blinking blearily at the food stall. _Gods, why can’t Kiba be more like Hana?_

“Uh - Inuzuka-sama?” the shopkeeper hedges.

“I’m fine!” she snaps back automatically, and without looking, she grabs a vegetable from the rack and slams it down on the counter. “How much?!”

The shopkeeper yelps, and stutters out the price.

She throws the money on the counter, spins on her heel and storms out of the market.

Once she’s free of the small crowd, she sighs and rubs at her eyes. 

_What time is it?_ she wonders, peering up at the sky.

Late evening, apparently. 

_Great._ Tsume scowls and takes a look down at whatever vegetable she grabbed. _Lettuce. What the fuck am I going to do with lettuce?_

Nothing. Tsume was going to do nothing, because she could beat the crap out of anyone she came across, but she wasn’t the best cook. Not even close. That honor belonged to Mikoto Uchiha, who was also probably one of the only people who could look terrifying in an apron.

Other than Kushina.

Tsume sighs, and pushes down the bittersweet memories of the loud, vivacious redhead.

 _I can’t cook_ , she thinks, tipping her head up at the sky. _Take-out it is._

She ends up choosing Yakiniku Q, because - meat. What else?

Tsume promptly takes a sharp turn and begins to head to one of her favorite restaurants, already salivating at the thought of good meat.

She’s casually tossing the head of lettuce that she had accidentally grabbed up and down in her hand when she hears it.

“Wait - please! I don’t know what I did!”

A child’s voice. High-pitched and shaky, but still determined.

“Just let me in! I promise I’ll pay!” he continues, and - oh boy, Tsume can hear a hint of tears.

Tsume’s eyes narrow, and she picks up the pace. She’s rounded the corner when someone else responds with a sharp, “I doubt that. Get out of here. You’re not welcome.”

“Woah there,” Tsume says, eyeing the angry, dark-haired man with a waiter’s uniform. “He’s just a kid.”

The man’s mouth twists. “Inuzuka-sama,” he greets, bowing respectfully and shooting a dirty look at the familiar blond, whiskered boy sitting in the dirt. “My apologies, but this boy is the - ” He cuts himself off, flushing, clearly remembering the law that Sarutobi had put in place. 

Tsume raises an expectant brow. “Yes?” she prods.

“Is a troublemaker,” he finishes, red and sneering. “We don’t want him in our restaurant.”

Tsume snorts. “He’s like five, isn’t he?”

“And a notorious prankster,” he snaps.

She rolls her eyes. “Still five.”

“We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.”

“Including a five year old child, I guess,” she drawls.

The man scowls. “Yes.”

Tsume shrugs. “Alright, then.” She knows how to pick her fights. Everyone she’s met would disagree, but they’re stupid, and they can shut up.

The man blinks in surprise. “Really?”

“I can keep going,” she says pointedly.

The man flushes, and stammers, “No, no - that’s alright. Thank you, Inuzuka-sama.” He bows, and retreats back into the restaurant.

The boy - Naruto, right? - scowls, kicking at the dirt. “They suck,” he tells her, boldly meeting her eyes, face scrunched up. “You shouldn’t go in there. They probably have crappy food.”

Tsume blinks.

 _He looks just like Kushina_ , she thinks, swallowing past the memories of a bold, bright woman with a loud laugh. _Only with Minato’s coloring._

“Hey, hey, lady,” Naruto asks, peering up at her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, brat,” she replies, automatically reaching out to ruffle his hair.

He flinches back.

Tsume freezes.

“Ah - sorry,” he says quickly, wincing. “Sorry, sorry - ”

“Quit apologizing,” she huffs, and when he doesn’t move back again, she cautiously ruffles his hair. “You’re fine.”

“Yeah,” he mumbles, kicking at the dirt again. “Thanks, I guess.”

She laughs a bit, Minato’s constant sheepishness flashing to mind. “It’s no problem.”

Tsume pauses. “Actually - you know what, brat?” she asks, because - because she remembers Kushina and Minato. Remembers Kushina cooing over Kiba as a harried Minato grilled her on how to take care of a baby. Remembers exactly what they gave to Konoha, and how they saved it.

Remembers that they loved their kid. That they wanted him to be happy.

“What were you going to order?” Tsume asks, kneeling down by Naruto as she silently vows to have a _talk_ with the owner of Yakiniku Q.

Tsume kicks the door to Yakiniku Q open with a savage grin and hurls her single head of lettuce into the idiot waiter from before, sending him crumpling to the floor. His coworker gapes at her as she storms up to the counter, slams down a bunch of bills, and rattles off a long list of orders, grinning wildly with just a touch too many teeth.

She comes out a bit later, arms weighed down by one too many plastic bags. Naruto’s sitting on a nearby bench, swinging his legs and determinedly staring into the dirt to ignore the glaring faces of the people passing by.

“Hey, brat!” she bellows, startling the people around her. “Got your food!”

His face shoots up, and he springs to his feet. “Thanks, lady!” he says gratefully, fluttering around her arms. “Here, I can take my bag - ”

“Nope,” Tsume denies cheerfully, setting off to the Inuzuka Compound. “You’re eating dinner with me.”

“I - what?” Naruto sputters, running to keep up with her. “No, no - I can’t.”

“You have to,” she counters. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Naruto gapes at her. “You want me to eat with you?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“You don’t even know my name!” he protests. “I don’t even know your name!”

Tsume pauses. _Oh. Right. He doesn’t know my name._

“Whoops,” she mutters, slowing down so that Naruto can keep up with her. “Sorry ‘bout that. My name’s Tsume Inuzuka. Nice to meetcha.”

He peers at her. “I’m Naruto,” he says tentatively. “Naruto Uzumaki.”

“Cool, cool,” she says, weaving through the dissipating crowd.

There’s a long beat of awkward silence.

“Do… do you still want me to have dinner with you?” Naruto asks.

“What?” Tsume asks. “Yeah, of course.”

Naruto’s silent, and when Tsume looks back, she finds that he’s crying.

“Oh, shit,” she curses, dropping to her knees, sliding the bags off her arms. “No, no, no - brat, don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”

“Sorry,” he sniffles, wiping at his eyes. “Just - you really want me to have dinner with you?”

“Yeah,” she says, cautiously drawing him into a light hug. “Yeah, I do. You’re not half-bad, brat. You’ll fit right in. Kiba will love you!” she tacks on, desperately trying to stop him from crying more.

But Naruto bursts into a fresh wave of tears, and Tsume devolves back into frantic panicking.

_Well_ , Tsume thinks with a wry twist of her lips as the unholy duo of talkative children forms right in front of her, _at least Kiba liked Naruto._

The two of them were like if you introduced two bright balls of sunshine to each other. They jumped from topic to topic, effortlessly managing to spend hours talking and bouncing off the walls. They weren’t bored. They weren’t tired. They were just talking and talking and talking and being excessively hyperactive children without a hint of stopping.

Hana tapped Tsume’s shoulder. “Hey, Mom?” she asks quietly. “Are we keeping him?”

“Maybe,” Tsume allows, turning to face her daughter. “Why, do you wanna keep him?”

Hana purses her lips. “He’s a nice kid,” she says, picking the food on her plate. “But the villagers don’t treat him right, do they?”

Tsume eyes her. “They don’t.”

Hana bobs her head, and hesitates. “Mom - Mom, doesn’t he kinda look and act like Kushina-oba? And - doesn’t he have the same last name?”

“He does.”

Hana blinks at her. “But - then - ”

“We’re not allowed to talk about it,” Tsume mutters, reaching out to sense the ANBU stationed around her house, watching Konoha’s jinchuuriki.

“But why?”

“It’s the law,” Tsume says with a shrug, pulling back once she’s content that no, the ANBU wouldn’t be able to hear them.

Hana frowns. “That’s stupid.”

“A lot of things are.”

Hana frowns again, and returns to picking her food. 

Kiba and Naruto chatter in the background, making grand gestures with their tiny, flailing arms.

“We’re keeping him though, right?” she asks.

Tsume snorts. “Sure, kiddo. Why the heck not.”

Hana nods, content, and eats a piece of pork.

By the time dinner is over, it’s very late. Way too late for Naruto to walk back home, Hana and Kiba insist, and Tsume happily gives in to their unvoiced plea. They set up all their futons in the middle of the living room, couches and tables pushed to the side to create a giant communal sleeping area filled with fluffy blankets and overstuffed pillows.

Naruto gets teary-eyed again, and Tsume counts her lucky stars when Kiba drags him into another conversation about the Academy, Hana cheerfully correcting them on their (many) misassumptions. 

And if Naruto doesn’t sleep at his apartment the next night, well.

It doesn’t really matter. It also doesn’t really matter if Naruto sleeps over at the Inuzuka Compound pretty much every single night either.

 _The perks of being a clan head_ , Tsume thinks, stretching her back as she watches the kids plus the Haimaru three play around outside.

Kuromaru flops down next to her with a huff. “Kushina and Minato’s brat, huh?”

Tsume hums, a far-away look in her eyes. “Well, no one else was taking care of him. Figured it might as well be me.”

Kuromaru chuffs out a laugh. “Be careful,” is all he says, and Tsume doesn’t need him to say more. 

_Politics_ , she thinks with a disgusted and irritated frown.

But then Naruto laughs, bright and clear as Kiba tries and fails to tackle Hana, and Tsume can’t help the fond tilt to her lips.

 _We’ll be alright_ , she decides, and grins.

**Author's Note:**

> and so tsume adopts naruto and sarutobi says nothing bc kakashi has been silently glowing over naruto finally having someone to take care of him and will kill sarutobi if he pulls something
> 
> i kinda handwaved my way through why tsume got to keep naruto tbh
> 
> but everything is perfect and good and our little sunshine boi has a family now


End file.
